Libya

9th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), 10-15 October, 1999, Durban, South Africa

LIBYAN EFFORTS IN ANTI-CORRUPTION Abdurrahman Mousa Al Abbar Secretary General People’s Committee For Popular Board Control In Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Corruption in general is an immoral and illegal deed committed by a person who seeks personal interest or favouritism for another person.

Corruption in state bodies leads to exhaustion of resources and restricts economic growth and standard of living as it also violates the state credibility and contracts its effectiveness.

Some Manifestations of Corruption: 1.

2.

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Embezzlement public resources and assets of state.

Bribe and personal interest through practising power.

Favouritism and discrimination among citizens by different incentives such as friendship, relative, sex religion or colour.

Mis-Administration and absence of employees, anarchy and default in job tasks Influence on Judiciary and Control bodies and manipulation in legal procedures.

Influence on public pressure groups.

Abortion of Democracy inside the community through falsified and forged elections.

Corruption in Public Administration and Effects on the Community: Corruption can occur in both public and private sectors, but we can concentrate on existing corruption aspects in Public Administration, as we can specify some aspects of public Administration affected by corruption: • • • •

Purchases and public contract.

Tax collection and other supreme resources.

Grant approvals, licenses and permission.

Assignment of posts and responsibility determination.

Despite the devastating effects of Corruption, the fact that it is difficult to estimate the financial effect for corruption, and the loss of the state shall not necessarily be shown in its financial records or final accounts.

At the same time we can touch the corruption effects in deriving relative relations between 1

9th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), 10-15 October, 1999, Durban, South Africa

important statistical induce in the state and corruption levels which can be disclosed and observed.

Also corruption effects can be touched in other forms such as unjustified rise in general expenses and deterioration of revenues and resource, and delay in achieving administrative works and weakness in efficiency.

As a result of ambitions developmental plan, adopted by community of Great Jamahiriya, and with the emergence of early seventies, the state expenditures increased into billions in order to achieve programmes and objectives included in the development plan. The state trend to oil industries such as oil refinery and derivatives has increased the number of public companies that work in the field of oil and petrochemicals and contributed to transfer from agricultural community to productive and industrial community, and it created the migration phenomenon from rural areas to urban areas.

Based on the above mentioned we can determine the important reasons that causes manifestations of corruption in Libyan community in the following points: 1.

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Willingness of international companies to gain contracts concluded by the state and strong competition thereof. That made companies resort to different means and procedures to gain such contracts whether legal or illegal.

Global inflation and its negative effect on pre-capita income.

Modern information and informational technology which affected weak-willed people to increase their expenses and applying the principle of “The end justifies the means

As for attempt to fight corruption effectively, the community went to reorganise its control institutions that guarantee effective control of different state activities, and according to law No. (88) for the year 1974, Central Authority for public Administrative control was reorganised to disclose all violation and faculty administrative practices inside public institutions.

Also law No. (79) for the year 1975 was issued regarding the establishment of Accounting chamber, and under which the chamber was assigned to practice financial control on all administrative units and general companies of the state, as it was also assigned to audit some controls in which the state constitutes a party. The general Works Board was also established to follow-up and execute general projects.

Peoples Board for follow-up was established according to law No. (16) for the year 1986 and specialised to follow up and execute the development plan.

Within the year 1988, all control boards were merged in people’s Board for follow-up and the organising laws for Boards work govern the function of this Board.

The control work reached its peak after the issue of law No. (ii) for the year 1996 regarding the re-organisation of popular control where control work was organised in one 2

9th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), 10-15 October, 1999, Durban, South Africa

board named “Popular Control Board”. This board practices financial, administrative and technical contract on all units, institutions and general companies inside the community and its control extended to foreign companies branches operating in Jamahiriya.

The type of control exercised by the Board covers the smallest administrative unit in the state namely the localities (the communes) and control carried out by the local members chosen from the localities.

The Board includes elected members from all basic popular congresses in Jamahiriya, plus the existence of hundreds of experts and technicians in all relevant control fields.

Popular Control Boards has general Administration and a No. Of (26) technical offices for popular control through (26) municipality according to state administrative bodies.

And as for endeavour to activate the efforts in this field of fighting corruption, the community enacted different penal laws to fight corruption in all its forms represented in the following: 1 2.

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Libyan penal law- this law gave great concern to crimes of theft and embezzlement bribes as it also included deterrent penalties for such crimes.

Law No. (2) for the year 1979 concerning economic crimes and it is related to fighting of all aspects of economic corruption in the state.

Law No. (6) for the year 1985 regarding the prohibition and favoritism.

Law No. (22) for the year 1985 regarding the fighting of misuse of profession or job considering such deeds a sin for who commit them.

Law No. (3) for the year 1986 on “from where have you got this.” which is related to prohibition of gaining utility or materialistic or moral advantage.

Law No. (10) for the year 1994, regarding purging. It was enacted to fight all kinds of corruption in community. This law compelled all general employees and self-employed citizens to submit annual declarations or their financial positions, and range of their modification during the declaration.

Conclusion and recommendation: In conclusion I would like to reassure you, Brothers present here, that according to the structure of People’s Control in Libya, the Board of the General peoples Control has the appropriate ways and means to expose and fight corruption even before it happens.

We, as a general People’s Committee in the Board, are very satisfied with the efforts exerted in Libya to fight corruption.

We shall consider corruption fighting as a long-run national effort, and shall be continuos and there is no feasibility to promise the realisation of non-real advancement to fight corruption on a short period.

It is important to create programmes for protection and preventative control which restrict opportunities of committing corruption inside the community and this programmes are mainly based on the following: 3

9th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), 10-15 October, 1999, Durban, South Africa

1. Creation of powerful financial management based on proper system for interior control and adequate authentic reports, which shall be submitted in time to disclose deviations.

2. Encouragement of setting policies and procedures that enables the selection of honest and competent employees and their remuneration.

3. Giving concern to establishment of co-operation with competent authorities to prevent corruption inside the community and setting work system for experience exchange.

4. Creation of effective means to realise openness and transparency and administrative performance of public and private economic units, and optimum utilisation from mass media in realising the same.

5. Enhancement of financial and administrative independence relating to the performance of constructive work to fight corruption with making available legal and social protection for general auditors and accounts controllers in such a way that activate their role to fight corruption inside the community.

6. Encouraging international co-operation and exchange of documents and issues among countries to create international conventions to restrict corruption.

The continuation of holding such international conference for many years, and the presence of such a crowd in the 9th International conference for corruption fighting, shall be considered the best evidence for awareness of countries for the importance of fighting and restriction all over the world.

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